HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's soccer team travels to Detroit Mercy on Saturday for an important Horizon League contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
Northern Kentucky Norse (6-4-4, 2-3-2) at Detroit Mercy Titans (6-6-3, 3-3-1)
Saturday, Oct. 28 – 1 p.m.
Detroit, Mich. – Titan Field
 
HEAD COACH STU RIDDLE: Stu Riddle is in his first season at the helm of the NKU men's soccer program. He was most recently the head coach at the University at Buffalo, where he spent four seasons. Last year as head coach of the Bulls, Riddle led the team to a 12-4-3 overall record. For his career, Riddle sports a 67-72-25 overall record as a head coach. In the past seven seasons, Riddle guided his teams to the Mid-American Conference Championship match four times (2010, 2011 at Western Michigan and 2015, 2016 at Buffalo).
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse fell 1-0 to Wright State on Saturday, Oct. 21. NKU had a golden opportunity to score early in the match on a penalty kick, but WSU's Alex Williams made a save on the attempt. Stefan Rokvic scored the game-winner in the 39^th minute on an assist by Sam DeRoy to help the Raiders to victory. 
 
SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY: The Titans enter the contest at 6-6-3 overall and 3-3-1 in the Horizon League. Detroit Mercy currently is in sixth place in the League standings, which is the last spot to qualify for the Horizon League Tournament. Saturday's match will be part of the team's Senior Day festivities.
 
Detroit Mercy is led in scoring by Tyler Moorman. He has nine goals and two assists for 20 points on the season. Spiro Pliakos has also been a key contributor on offense, scoring seven goals and adding one assist in 2017. In the net, Robbie Blackwell has seen most of the action for the Titans. He has made 12 starts and sports a 1.35 goals against average. He has made 47 saves on the year for a 0.734 save percentage.
 
NORSE IN THE 2017 SEASON:  The Norse are 6-4-4 on the year and 2-3-2 in League play. The team is averaging 1.14 goals per match, while allowing 1.00 goals per contest. Tom Suchecki leads the Norse with four goals and two assists for 10 points. Rikard Lindqvist also has four goals on the season.
 
In the net, Jim Barkei, has started all 14 contests for the Norse. He has a 0.90 goals against average and a 0.800 save percentage. Barkei also has seven shutouts on the season, which is first in the Horizon League and 15^th in the nation.
 
TAKING A LOOK AT THE STANDINGS: At the end of the regular season, six teams will qualify for the Horizon League Tournament. Right now, NKU is sitting in eighth place, but a win this weekend would move the Norse up the standings.
 
1.      Green Bay – 5-1-1 (16)
2.      Wright State – 5-2-0 (15)
3.      UIC – 4-2-1 (13)
4.      Milwaukee – 4-3-0 (12)
5.      Cleveland State – 3-2-2 (11)
6.      Detroit Mercy – 3-3-1 (10)
7.      Oakland – 3-3-1 (10)
8.      Northern Kentucky – 2-3-2 (8)
9.      Belmont – 2-5-0 (6)
10.    IUPUI – 0-6-0 (0)
 
HORIZON LEAGUE AWARDS: Jim Barkei was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18. The redshirt junior from Downers Grove, Ill., recorded a shutout in a 0-0 draw against Cleveland State. In the match against the Vikings, he faced 22 shots and made seven saves to prevent CSU from getting a goal. Earlier in that week, Barkei helped the Norse to a 1-0 win over Dayton. He faced 13 shots, making three saves.
 
Barkei earned his second Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honor on Oct. 16. He made a season-high 10 saves in the match against UIC to preserve a 0-0 draw. The shutout was his seventh of the season, which is the most in the program's Division I era.
 
FRESH FACES: NKU signed 13 student-athletes to its 2017 class. Jim Barkei, Victor Bjurhall, Felix Komolong, Alex Greive, Brett Wilson, Tom Suchecki, Rikard Lindqvist, Edo Durante, Abdul Kooistra, Jake Minkovitz, Joe Paasewe, Harvey Moyes and Isaiah Schatz are all in their first seasons with the Norse.
 
Barkei, Koositra, Lindqvist, Suchecki and Wilson are transfers who have played at the Division I level. Komolong, a freshman, is the brother of NKU soccer alum Alvin Komolong. Schatz is also a freshman, and he earned a selection to the U.S. Youth Futsal Team that competed in Costa Rica in late July.
 
UP NEXT: The Norse will travel to Evansville on Tuesday, Oct. 31 for a nonconference match. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.